MECM Architecture

Site Hierarchy

Central Administration Site (CAS)

The Central Administration Site sits on top of the MECM hierarchy and is used in very large environments that have multiple primary sites. Its role includes:

• Providing centralized administration across multiple primary sites

• Allowing global configuration and policy management

Primary Site

The Primary Site contains all the Core Components that will be covered below. Most organizations operate with just one site, but larger organizations with multiple remote locations may have Secondary Sites.

Secondary Site

The Secondary site is used to improve MECM performance in remote locations.

Note that Secondary Sites do not have their own Site Database - they rely on the primary site's database.

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Core Components

Site Server

The Site Server is the control center of MECM. Its role includes:

• Processing administrative actions from the MECM console (a management app installed on a workstation/server)

• Creating policies for clients

• Coordinating communication between MECM components

• Interacting with the SCCM database

Site Database

The Site Database is a Microsoft SQL database that stores all of MECM's data. All SCCM components read and write from/to this database. It stores info such as:

• Device and user inventory

• Software deployment information

• Configuration policies

• Status and reporting data

Management Point (DP)

The Management Point is the server that manages communication between clients and MECM. Its role includes:

• Sending policies and instructions to clients

• Receiving inventory and status messages from clients

• Tells clients which Distribution Point to download content from

A site can contain more than one Management Point.

Distribution Point (DP)

The Distribution Point stores and distributes content that clients need to download. Its role includes:

• Hosting software packages and applications

• Storing operating system images for deployment

• Distributing updates and configuration packages

• Providing content for client downloads during deployments

A site can contain more than one Distribution Point.